Valdemoro-Sierra

A village of woodland and pine forest

Valdemoro-Sierra lies in the east of the province, in mountainous terrain covered by continuous pine forest. The centre is built of rubble stone, its streets following the slope, with the Asunción church at its heart; the main festival is on 15 August, for the Virgin. People lived from woodland and livestock.

What trades and memory tell

Within the municipality is Los Casares, a pre-Roman settlement with a rock-cut structure covered by two slabs, with two terraces and carved steps. It has been proposed as an oracle sanctuary beside the settlement; neither function nor date is proven.

Nearby are two named rocks, La Cara and La Balsa.

A popular-history writer from the CuenCANP association places Los Casares beside the Prado Moralejo stream and calls it a Bronze Age settlement, without citing excavation or study: this remains another interpretation. Nearby were a pond and a channel carrying water to a mill.

At La Balsa, on rainy days, water falls in a broad curtain over a large tufa wall with several faces. In 2022, according to guide Fernando Carreras, the site already had directions, a picnic area and a fountain, whereas previously it was scarcely signposted.

Routes

The PR-CU 20 (short-distance trail), Ruta de los Castillos, is a 14 km circuit. It leaves Las Escuelas along the path to the Carrasca de la Joya, descends to the Prao Moralejo stream and climbs steeply to the castles of Las Navazas, El Aljibe and La Sierra. It returns by the old Castillos path and Hernando ravine.

Plan your visit

The village takes little time to see. PR-CU 20 needs a day and good footwear.

Before you travel

Part of PR-CU 20 crosses ground without a clear path and timber-dragging tracks, and the stream becomes difficult after heavy rain. Los Casares is an archaeological site: do not touch it.

Combine with

Campillos-Sierra is 6 km away in a straight line, Valdemorillo de la Sierra 7 km and La Cierva, with Las Hoyas, 8.8 km.